Alzheimer's in the News

Alzheimer’s In the News

We post articles and stories related to Alzheimer’s disease on this page. This page is updated frequently with current news items. This is not a comprehensive list of news stories nor is it meant to serve as an endorsement of any particular organization, author, study, etc.

The Southeastern Conference in cooperation with its 14-member institutions announces the eighth annual "We Back Pat" Week, a week-long initiative focused on bringing awareness and recognition to the Pat Summitt Foundation, a fund of East Tennessee Foundation, and its fight against Alzheimer's disease.

"People with dementia who are living in [nursing] homes are among the most vulnerable in our society," said study leader Clive Ballard. He's a professor at the University of Exeter Medical School in England.

The Pat Summitt Alzheimer’s Clinic will be designed with the patients in mind. The new clinic in Medical Building C at UT Medical Center will be a state-of-the-art facility for the treatment of Alzheimer’s patients.

"Over the long term we want this to be a destination site for Alzheimer's researchers. We want this clinic to have the name that Pat Summitt had, the reputation that she had in women's athletics, to be noted for its outstanding care and research."

The finding that the loss of memory function caused by damage at the synapse can be reversed is especially encouraging. If Alzheimer’s can be caught early enough, not only might further spread be prevented but the loss of long-term memory function suffered by the Alzheimer’s patient might be restored.

The incurable Alzheimer’s disease may now have a cure. A new research by the University of Manchester shows that the most common form of dementia can be fully cured with an anti-inflammatory drug, commonly used for period pain.

Scientists with the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at The Rockefeller University used a complex set of imaging technologies and experiments to identify an early trafficking protein pathway (COPI) that affects amyloid precursor protein (APP), which precedes the formation of amyloid plaques.

The study, led by scientists at the University of Glasgow and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), has discovered that a protein called IL-33 can reverse Alzheimer’s disease-like pathology and cognitive decline in mice.

Caregiver stress is a very real thing. The person who has Alzheimer's, they don't experience stress in the same way that a caregiver does. For them, every moment is new. The caregivers are the ones that worry about the future and worry about the past and worry about the present.

One of the most heartbreaking things about Alzheimer’s disease is it not only steals people’s memories but also their ability to recognize the faces of their loved ones and now researchers say they now know why this occurs.

More than 99% of clinical trials for Alzheimer’s drugs have failed, leading many to wonder whether pharmaceutical companies have gone after the wrong targets. Now, research in mice points to a potential new target: a developmental process gone awry, which causes some immune cells to feast on the connections between neurons.

Beka Solomon, a professor at Tel Aviv University, made a serendipitous discovery one day when she was testing a new class of agents against Alzheimer’s disease. If it pans out, it might mark the beginning of the end of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and many other neurodegenerative diseases.

"The ultimate virtual reality is reality, where you actually go into an environment that is alive and you solve problems, and you put in context the things that you're learning," Bushnell said from technology conference South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.

Researchers at the University of California have proven that it is possible to spot the sticky amyloid plaques and tau protein tangles which cause the disease and pinpoint the moment that they trigger Alzheimer’s disease.

Keeping an active mind with intellectual pursuits in midlife may delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease symptoms, but it does not appear to prevent the physical changes in the brain for most people, a new study finds.

"We can't make everybody's Christmas anymore," Mary says. "To try to pretend that the losses aren't happening doesn't do anybody any good. It doesn't help your family members understand what's happening."

Current Alzheimer's research focuses on the amyloid precursor protein (APP), which is responsible for the formation of destructive plaques in the brain. Researchers from Bochum have now demonstrated that APP, in addition to forming those plaques, might also affect the development of Alzheimer's disease via another mechanism.

According to the Alzheimer’s Society, a dementia-friendly community is one in which people with dementia are empowered to have aspirations and feel confident, knowing they can contribute and participate in activities that are meaningful to them.

Making our brains healthier may reduce the chance of getting dementia, says an expert who is optimistic about a scientific breakthrough for preventing the disease.
Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/lifestyle/diet-and-fitness/keep-brain-healthy-to-cut-alzheimers-risk-mental-health-expert-20151014-gk8osf.html#ixzz3oYyuPy30
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One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease is the abnormal clumping of beta-amyloid proteins in the brain, resulting in the death of brain cells. The discovery that small heat shock proteins prevent uncontrolled protein clumping has opened the possibility of developing drugs that emulate this effect. Now, a new study takes this a step further by revealing how small heat shock proteins interact with beta-amyloid to prevent clumping.

A survey reported in Time Magazine on March 24, 2015 found that, "As few as 36 percent of doctors said they usually told their patients if they had Alzheimer's." The two major reasons given by doctors for withholding an Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis were "fear of causing emotional distress in their patients," and "lack of time and resources to fully explain the diagnosis."

The study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, found that in cognitively normal adults who later go on to develop Alzheimer's, being overweight in midlife - defined as age 50 - seems to accelerate the onset of the disease.

People with Alzheimer’s disease have fat deposits in the brain. For the first time since the disease was described 109 years ago, researchers have discovered accumulations of fat droplets in the brain of patients who died from the disease and have identified the nature of the fat.

No one knows for sure whether they will develop Alzheimer's disease or not, but certain factors may increase your risk.
A new study has identified nine potentially modifiable risk factors that may contribute to more than 75 percent of all Alzheimer's cases worldwide.

Could pollution be to blame for why dementia is killing more people and being diagnosed earlier than ever? That's the theory being floated by researchers involved in a study of patients in 21 countries from 1989 to 2010.

The fight against Alzheimer's disease tallied a small victory last week, when two new drugs were found that possibly slow its relentless attack on brain cells. But the search for a cure isn't moving nearly quickly enough.

How can we make progress against Alzheimer’s if we scrimp on efforts to get to its roots? Better to adequately fund research for treatment and prevention rather than remain mired in costly and hopeless caregiving.

"We target Tau, we target Sia Nuclein, we figure out a way to unfold it with a small molecule, drugs or a way to snag it with antibodies and throw it in the trashcan," said Dr. Trojanowski, Director of Penn Institute on Aging.

The study, published in the Brain Research Bulletin, indicates people with an “O” blood type have more grey matter in their brain, which helps to protect against diseases such as Alzheimer's, than those with “A,” “B,” or “AB” blood types, Medical Xpress reports.

Alzheimer's disease is the only one of the top 10 causes of death in the U.S. that cannot be prevented, treated or even slowed down. The greatest risk factors -- age, genes and family history -- are beyond our control. But that doesn't mean there's nothing you can do to improve your odds against cognitive decline or dementia.

“Early evaluation and identification of people with dementia may help them receive care earlier,” said Dr. Vikas Kotagal, the senior author of the Michigan study. “It can help families make plans for care, help with day-to-day tasks, including medication administration, and watch for future problems that can occur.”

Healthy eating can help you stay at an ideal weight and stave off diabetes and heart disease. Now, there’s more and more evidence that a heart-healthy diet is also a brain-healthy diet -- and it may even prevent or slow dementia, which includes Alzheimer's disease.

Developed by Alexander Tarvet, a student studying Game Design & Production Management at Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland, Forget-Me-Knot is designed to raise awareness for those suffering with dementia.

Many Baby Boomers grew up thinking coffee was a guilty pleasure, and were warned it would stunt their growth, give them the jitters, and cause cancer and miscarriages. But almost every single study has shown coffee — black coffee — to have surprising health benefits in many different areas of health.

Throughout his career, Duke University neurology professor Allen Roses has challenged what for decades has been the prevailing orthodoxy in Alzheimer’s research: Namely, the “amyloid hypothesis,” which suggests that a protein called beta-amyloid clogs up the brain, killing neurons and causing the dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Samsung is clearly aware of this, as it just released a dedicated Backup Memory app to stimulate the memories of early-onset patients. The Android tool uses Bluetooth to detect when friends and family running the app are nearby.

Numerous studies have associated sleep with improved memory. But can sleep improve memory enough to help patients with Alzheimer's? This is what researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis set out to investigate.

More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's with no cure or treatment to reverse the progression. So medical professionals are constantly seeking ways to improve quality of life for their patients.
One new method is a pilot program at the Hebrew Home in New York where family members record video messages to help jog their loved ones' memories. These videos are played for the patients right when they wake up in the morning.

Two-thirds of the 5 million Americans living with Alzheimer's disease are female. A woman at age 60 is twice as likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's as with breast cancer. Even after factoring in that women on average live longer than men, scientists don't fully understand why this most common form of dementia strikes women more often than men.

In a recent Reddit AMA, neuroscientist Dena Dubal discussed her fascinating research concerning a hormone dubbed Klotho, named for the fate in Greek mythology who spins the thread of life. People who have high levels of this hormone seem to be protected against the symptoms of Alzheimer's, even when postmortem examinations reveal markers of the disease in their brains.

For people of a certain age, it’s not uncommon to seize on any forgetfulness as a symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. Lose the car keys, forget a name, read a Top 10 list of dementia’s warning signs and the worry begins.

Journalist Greg O'Brien was just 59 when he was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's, the same disease that killed his maternal grandfather and mother. In his memoir, On Pluto: Inside the Mind of Alzheimer's, O'Brien chronicles what it feels like to slowly lose his memory.

Memory and as well as connections between brain cells were restored in mice with a model of Alzheimer's given an experimental cancer drug, Yale School of Medicine researchers reported in the journal Annals of Neurology.

Some 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, a number that is expected to grow steadily, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Some 15 million relatives and friends help with the patients’ care. Primary caregivers change diapers and feed and bathe their husbands and wives, mothers and fathers. They juggle jobs and other family responsibilities, and deal with often exorbitant expenses and difficult end-of-life decisions.

Even before Ronald Reagan became the oldest elected president, his mental state was a political issue. His adversaries often suggested his penchant for contradictory statements, forgetting names and seeming absent-mindedness could be linked to dementia.

A new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago shows a diet plan they developed -- appropriately called the MIND diet -- may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by as much as 53 percent.

Medical professionals are much less likely to tell their patients of a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease than diagnoses of other chronic or incurable diseases such as cancer, often because of a reluctance to inflict emotional distress, a nonprofit’s annual report has found.

A4 is an ambitious, international trial in which 60 hospitals are looking for 1,000. Dr. Sperling says they have to be patients who are not yet exhibiting signs of memory loss, but who also have brain scans suggesting they will get Alzheimer's in the future.

Medical professionals are much less likely to tell their patients of a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease than diagnoses of other chronic or incurable diseases such as cancer, often because of a reluctance to inflict emotional distress, a nonprofit’s annual report has found.

An experimental drug for Alzheimer’s disease sharply slowed the decline in mental function in a small clinical trial, researchers reported Friday, reviving hopes for an approach to therapy that until now has experienced repeated failures.

A clinical trial is now underway to test a new drug that shows promise for slowing the relentless progression of memory loss and mental decline in Alzheimer's patients. The drug is called T-817MA and it's designed to protect nerve cells in the brain.

Major drugmakers, the British government and a top Alzheimer's research charity are pooling more than $100 million to create a global fund to accelerate efforts to find a treatment or even a cure for the mind-robbing disease within a decade.

Maria Shriver is a Peabody- and Emmy Award-winning journalist and producer, a six-time New York Times best-selling author and an NBC News special anchor. She is the founder of A Woman's Nation and has been a leading Alzheimer's advocate for more than a decade. She also was an executive producer of the Academy Award-winning film "Still Alice." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

When 65-year-old model, actress, and restaurateur Barbara Smith, better known as B. Smith, was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s more than four years ago, she made the decision to fight. And she continues on today.

A promising new natural treatment for Alzheimer's disease is moving toward clinical trials. This will be a major step forward as there is nothing on the market that slows the progression of Alzheimer's; natural products chemist has patented a botanical compound, withanamides.

Using the principles of natural selection, Lloyd Demetrius, a researcher in population genetics at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, and Jane Driver, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, have proposed a new model of Alzheimer’s that suggests mitochondria — cellular power plants — might be at the center of the disease.

Scientists knew families in Colombia were cursed with early Alzheimer's disease. Pharmaceutical companies had made drugs to treat protein buildup in the brain, but drug tests were failing. Then came a new idea.

In Colombia, where families with a genetic mutation are doomed to face Alzheimer's, a $100 million drug trial is under way. The first question is whether the test can change the families' future. The bigger question is what it will mean for the rest of the world.

The Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center and Boston Medical Center are taking part in several trials and studies, including one that brings significant hope. The Noble Study will test the effects of a drug known as T-817MA.

Alzheimer’s disease, which affects 5 million Americans and their families, still has no known cure. Genova, who is also a neuroscientist, joined Jeffrey Brown to discuss the disease’s symptoms and how different people react to them.

LCZ696 is a heart failure drug from Novartis that many observers think will gain FDA approval later this year and go on to become a blockbuster. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to the drug’s success is the fear that it might raise the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

A report issued Thursday on the financial impact of Alzheimer’s disease in the United States warns that it could soar to more than $1 trillion a year by 2050, with much of it borne by the federal government, unless action is taken to shift current trends.

Both autism and Alzheimer's disease can have tragic consequences for sufferers and their families. Now a new study may offer insight into the pathology of both autism and Alzheimer's by revealing that different activities of certain proteins in males and females cause gender-specific tendencies toward these diseases. The research may lead to new drugs for potential future therapeutics to treat both illnesses.

A decade-long cascade of important discoveries has brought them to what many researchers call the brink of understanding.
Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine are in the hunt, with a drug trial launching and efforts to establish a federally funded research center underway.

A new startup, Yumanity, will be based in Cambridge, Mass., and is built around technologies developed by Susan Lindquist, the former director of the MIT-affiliated Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. Three researchers who worked in Lindquist’s lab will serve as founding scientists for the company, which currently has five employees. Coles says he hopes to scale up to 25.

New research has emerged that reveals a specific brain network - that is the last to develop and the first to show signs of neurodegeneration - is more vulnerable to unhealthy aging as well as to disorders that emerge in young people, shedding light on conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia.

Dr. Steven Walkley, a specialist in what are known as lysosomal storage diseases, who teaches at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, compared the lysosome to a recycling center. Niemann-Pick renders that center broken, causing cholesterol to accumulate to toxic levels and therefore impact neurons.

People with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are at increased risk of converting to Alzheimer's disease within a few years, but a new study warns the risk increases significantly if they suffer from anxiety.

With medical intervention, you can battle cancer and beat it, you can face diabetes and live with daily treatments, you can change your life and defeat heart disease, you can recover from a stroke or a heart attack. Alzheimer’s disease is another story. There is no cure. Alzheimer’s is 100% fatal.

In the first, small study of a novel, personalized and comprehensive program to reverse memory loss, nine of 10 participants displayed subjective or objective improvement in their memories beginning within three to six months after the program’s start.

Approximately 56 percent of the people in the study reported some changes to their memory by around the age of 82. About 1 in 6 people developed dementia in the time study was conducted, and 80 percent of them had reported serious changes to memory early on.